The power within
by Tati86
Summary: Kagome is a miko princess. Inuyasha kidnapped her to obtain the Shikon no Tama, but he doesn't know that the easiest way to take the jewel is by killing Kagome. What would he do? Read and find out. Piarings: InuKag, MirSan
1. The saddest day ever

**The Power Within  
By Tati86  
**

A.N.: This is my first fanfic. I'm a non native English speaker, so if you want to point out grammar and spelling mistakes I'll appreciate it. (Don't be too mean. ). This is an A.U. A world in which you can find some youkai and humans living together, castles with royalty, high buildings, cars, and other stuff. Weird combination, isn't it? Remember: Kikyo was a normal girl before she died, just a bit cold. She was not the heartless person we all know from the anime.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and co, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

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Chapter one: The saddest day ever.

The sky started to fill with rain clouds; the wind blew quickly rocking the branches of trees.

––_This can't be good._ –– said the hanyou dressed in red with long silver hair and golden eyes. He was on a high branch of a peculiar tree, the Goshinboku.

"Maybe I should get her, she could get sick. She didn't bring her umbrella to school." Inuyasha thought. The strong figure got to the ground and started running to the school where he knew his love was.

He was getting near it, and he started to pick her scent up. It was kind of cold with a bit of wild flowers, but that wasn't what he was scenting. It was an iron kind of smell, a familiar scent. Blood. Miko blood.

"It can't be happening. No!!!." he shout mentally. He ran faster than he had ever ran before, cursing himself the all time. "How could I let her go alone? How did she convince me of such thing? I turn out to be great bodyguard, didn't I?"

He could smell her close to him, but where was she? Soon he found her answer. She was laying on the street not far away from her school. A string of blood was trickling from her mouth. Her legs and arms where spread in odd angles. Her eyes were shut. This told him that she had fallen from a building.

He got closer to her, still in shock. Her hearth was beating slowly, and her breathing shallow. He sat next to her and held her to his chest.

––_Please, open your eyes. Don't leave me, Kikyo!!!_ ––He shouted ––_I need you to stay with me. This can't be true_.––He caressed her check with golden eyes filled with tears. –– _Come on, wake up._

Her eyes opened slightly. –– _Inu...yasha...I..._–– She whispered in gasps. He could see that she was in extreme pain.

–– _Don't speak you have to save your strength, Kikyo._ –– he replied.

––_I...love...you_–– she said closing her eyes again.

––_I love you, too. Kikyo, can you heard me? KIKYO!!!_ –– he said desperately. ––_Please, don't die. Don't you remember what you told me this morning? You told me that this afternoon you were going to make a wish to the Shikon no Tama, to make me human. We were going to run away and get marry. We were going to leave that stupid simple life you wanted so much. You said we were going to be happy for the rest of our lives. Kikyo, you have to survive. I promise I'll stop calling you bitch. I know you hated that I called you like that even when you never said anything about it. I'm your bodyguard, where am I going to work if you die? Who will hire a bodyguard that lets his employer die?_ –– A small smile formed in his lips when he said that, but it banish almost immediately–– _Seriously, Kikyo you can't leave me. You're the only woman I had ever loved. I need you with me._ –– She seemed like she didn't hear anything he'd said.

She was dying in his arms. He buried his nose in her hair to smell her scent one last time. It had started to smell like death, but something was wrong. There was another scent mix with hers. Naraku's scent.

––_That bastard did this to you. Damn him. He's going to pay for this, I swear to you, Kikyo, or I'll give my life for it._ –– He couldn't think of Naraku right now; he had to take Kikyo to medical attention.

Inuyasha knew that the best physician lived in her castle, so he pick her up as gently as he manage, and started running to what she called home.

By the time they reach the Goshinboku (it is located near the castle), the rain started to fall washing his tears away. Her hearth stopped. Kikyo wasn't breathing anymore. Inuyasha stopped running, and leaned into the god tree.

His arms tighten around her fragile figure. ––_Kikyo_–– he whispered, unable to say anything else. He was soaking wet, cold and so sad, he felt like he was falling into a big dark hole. He wasn't aware of what was happening around him; he didn't notice the hanyou getting close to them until he spoke.

––_Inuyasha, the all mighty bodyguard got blind by ambition and killed Kikyo attempting to steal the Shikon jewel. That's so mean, don't you think?_ –– Naraku said with a cocky smile.

––_What the fuck are you talking about? You are the one who killed her; I smell you on her bastard._ –– Answered the silver hair boy with a string of red in his amber eyes.

––_Maybe, but that's not what I told the castle soldiers that are on their way here. They're precious miko princess killed by a low half-breed. I think they were pretty pissed with you._ –– Naraku's smile got bigger.

––_Fucking liar. What made you think that I'll stay until they get here?_

The smile on Naraku's face became a smirk–– _I'll make sure you'll stay_!––as soon as he finished that sentence, the roots beneath Naraku's body attacked Inuyasha.

He couldn't react in time to stop it; all he did was protect Kikyo's lifeless body taking the impact on his back. They ripped his haori and skin leaving deep cuts on his back and legs. Those pinned him down to the ground along with Kikyo, the one he refused to let go.

The rain got thicker, he couldn't see Naraku anymore, but he could hear his evil laugh. Some minutes later, the castle soldiers and the guardian monk got to the Goshinboku. They saw Kikyo's dead body and the "body guard" of hers that held her with his bloody claws. Both of them soaking in blood (Inuyasha's blood, but they didn't know that.). They assumed that Naraku's story was true.

Inuyasha was badly hurt; he couldn't move nor speak to defend himself. He knew what they'll do to him. This was a peaceful kingdom; they wouldn't give the death penalty no matter what the offence was. The monk will seal him forever, and this could be worst than death. The person that was sealed will be conscious, but would never be able to move, hear, breath, see or talk again, just like been dead, but even worst he'll be able to think. He'll be left alone with his thoughts, and he'll probably go insane.

––_Let's do the spell here. That freak spent a lot of time on this tree._ ––said one of the soldiers.

––_Yeah! Let's see how much he loves it after being stuck in here for the eternity_.––said another soldier with disgust.

––_Very well, we better start the spell right away otherwise he may recover from his injures._––said the monk nervously.

They dug a hole next to the god tree, laid the hanyou in a coffin without putting the cover on, and putted it into the hole.

The pain made breath and think accurately a hard work. He could not stop the sad thoughts from invading his mind. All trace of happiness had been wiped away with her death. He didn't have a reason for being alive anymore, not without Kikyo.

"I wasn't there for her. I couldn't save her. I was useless. I didn't avenge her. I didn't help; it's my entire fault and Naraku's. After all, he was the one who killed her." While he thought that, pure rage was pumping through his veins making his eyes red again. Immediately, he felt sad and empty; even if he had been able to kill Naraku she wasn't coming back.

––_Do you have any last words?_ ––asked the old monk to Inuyasha. The hanyou barely heard him; his ears were ringing with his inner thoughts. A tear managed to slipped from his left eye making his way along his cheek

––_I'm sorry Kikyo_––Inuyasha murmured before the mans putted the cover of the coffin on. Everything went dark, he could manage to hear the monk chanting, but he knew very well that soon he won't be able to hear anything at all.

After some time that seemed like forever to Inuyasha, the monk finished the spell, and Inuyasha was left to himself until the end of the world. This was definitely the saddest day ever. The beloved miko princess of the Tokyo Kingdom had died, and an innocent hanyou was punished for something that he'll never think of: kill the person he loved the most.

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A.N.: That's all for now. I hope you like it. Please R&R. I want to know if you like it, so I can keep writing.


	2. The awakening

**The Power Within**

******By Tati86**

**A.N.:** I don't know how often I'm going to update. Right now, I'm on vacation, but college is going to start soon. I don't know if I'm going to have time to write after it does, but I really want to finish this.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inuyasha and co, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

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Chapter two: The awakening.

It was a hot summer day. Blue sky and a nice breeze was everything she could see and feel from outside through an open window next to her. Trapped as she was in her own castle, she wasn't able to refresh herself. Mou, she was hot.

— _…and that's how this kingdom was established. Do you have any doubts?_ — the professor told to a very absentminded Kagome. —_Miss Higurashi...Kagome!!!...Are you listening to me?_

—_Ah…Were you talking to me? _

—_You didn't listen to anything that I said, did you?_ — he asked.

—_I'm really_ s_orry professor. I was thinking about how nice it would be to get out to the garden for moment._ — she said looking to the ground with a flush in her face.

—_Really? How interesting?_ — he said with sarcasm. —_Let's keep with the lesson; we have a lot to see today._ —

That wasn't what Kagome wanted to hear. She had to do something, anything. She wasn't going to spend another perfect afternoon locked up like a prisoner.

— _Excuse me. May I go to the bathroom, please?_ — she asked with a small smile in her lips.

—_Fine, but you have to come back as soon as you can. We are getting behind our schedule._ — the professor answered coldly.

— _Yeah, sure. I'll come back immediately._ — Kagome said trying not to laugh and getting out of the room as quick as she could.

"Now, I have to convince my mother to let me go out". Thought Kagome feeling proud of herself for being such good liar.

After some minutes, she got to the end of the hall. There was a pair of big wooden doors with a royal symbol on them. Kagome opened them slowly. —_Mom, are you in here?_ — she asked hopefully. It was a huge and comfortable room. The walls were filled with old pictures and paintings. There was a nice carpet on the floor, a fire place, a couple of bookcases, and a desk where her mother usually worked.

— _Yes, dear. Come in._ — said Mrs. Higurashi with a sweet smile on her face. —W_hat's wrong?_

—N_othing is wrong, mom. I was wondering if I could go outside the rest of the day. I hadn't have a day off since so long ago, and it's Saturday, nobody else have to go to school…Not that I can go to a high school like any other kid of my age, but you know what I mean, right?_ — Kagome said barely breathing.

— _Yes, I know what you mean, but you also know that you are not allowed to do that because of your security._

—_ Yes, I know._ — said Kagome sadly.

Seeing the disappointment look in Kagome's face, Mrs. Higurashi added —_but an afternoon off won't kill you. Besides, there are a lot of soldiers around the castle. You'll be perfectly safe, but whatever you do don't get into the woods alone, understood?_

—_That means that I can go outside, right?_

— _Yes._

— _Thanks._ — Kagome said hugging and kissing her mother. Then, she ran towards the garden.

It was a big garden with different kind of flowers. It ended where the forest began. It was empty with the exception of her little brother that was playing with some cars, and making odd noises.

He's life was so easy. He didn't have to receive lessons every single day like Kagome had to. When she didn't have school classes she had miko practices. Her life really sucked. She sighed and laid over a flowerbed in the garden.

She was just 16, and she hadn't lived much. She wished to leave all her responsibilities behind, her monotonous life. She felt like she was dying because of living in confinement. "I feel like this is not the life that I'm supposed to be living." She thought sighing again. She couldn't do that, she couldn't leave. If she did, it would mean that Souta will be the one to ascend to the throne, and be locked up just like her. She didn't desire her life to another person, especially not to her little brother. She had being taught to be a queen since she learned to talk and walk. "No, being a queen is going to be my destiny even if the process to be queen kills me."

She stood up, and looked towards Souta one more time before getting into the forest. "I know my mother told me not to go alone, but if this is going to be one of my last days of freedom I'm going to find out what is so scary about the forest that they don't let me go alone...Also, the noises of my little brother are starting to annoy me."

The shadows that provide the trees were refreshing. The songs of the birds made her relax, and forget about all the things that make her life miserable. After walking for some time, she started to distinguish a figure some feet away from her. The figure looked like an old woman dressed in miko clothes. She was praying next to a huge tree that was in the middle of a clearing in the woods.

"Odd" was all she thought, as she made her way to the tree. When she got there, the old women had already gone away. It was a strange tree; it had a strong aura around it, and looked pretty old.

She started to walk around it watching it closely. "Could this be the famous Goshinboku?" she thought while slipping with something that was on the grass, getting bruises her knees.

She picked herself up from the ground, and searched for whatever was the thing that made her fall down. She only found some stones, so she didn't pay attention to anything else. "It's getting late, and I'll probably get lost if I kept walking around the forest, I should go back to the garden." She thought turning around, and going to where her little brother was.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

"Those damn birds. Why can't they stop singing? They are not letting me hear my thoughts" he thought annoyed. "Wait a minute! Am I really hearing them? …No, it has to be my mind tricking me." The songs of the birds became louder; and he could hear somebody's steps getting away from where he was. He was definitely hearing again. "What the fuck is happening?"

Suddenly, he was breathing again, but there wasn't enough air in the coffin. It was suffocating, too hot. He had to get out of there and quick, but he was so weak, the injuries in his back didn't heal while he was sealed. He had to concentrate the rest of his energy to destroy the coffin, and pull himself out of it.

Outside was too bright, Inuyasha couldn't open his eyes. It was too difficult to breath, and he coughed continuously. He didn't feel the ground when he fell down. Then, everything went dark, he fainted.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

When she got to the garden, it was empty. Souta wasn't there anymore, so she decided to sit on a bench that was under a tall tree. She was starting to relax when someone talked to her from behind.

—_Princess, Is that you?_

— _Oh…Yes, I am._ — Kagome said curtly turning around to see who was talking to her. — _Houshi-sama? …How are you doing this morning?_ — she said with a little smile on her face.

—_Excellent. What about you?_ — he asked sitting next to her.

—_Fine, thank you for asking_.

— _I see that you have being improving your manners._

— _What does that suppose to mean?_ — she replied frowning her eyebrows.

— _Nothing._ — he answered innocently. —_You were supposed to be receiving classes at this time, right?_ — he said changing the subject.

—_Yes, but my mom, I mean the queen, gave me the rest of the day off._

— _That was very nice of her. You didn't have a day off since a year ago, and it was to attend to a wedding._

—_ You have a good memory houshi-sama._

—_Thank you for the compliment._ — he said bowing slightly.Then, he frowned his eyebrows, and had a painted look on his face. He was gasping and holding the hand that had the praying beads around.

— _Does it hurt you?_ — she said worried about his friend.

—_Yes, it does hurt when it's getting bigger._ — he answered quietly.

— _What gets bigger?_

__

_— I'm flattered. You are worried about me. I don't know if I deserve such a thing from a beautiful and sweet creature like you._ — he told Kagome taking her hands into his. — _Would you bear my child?_

— _MIROKU!!! Stop it. You never change, do you?_ — she yelled, patches of pink appearing in her cheeks. She stood up freeing her hands from his hold. He took that opportunity to grope Kagome's posterior.

The pink flush in Kagome's cheeks was creeping up her neck now. —_Hentai!!!_ — she roared. Kagome slapped his face leaving a red mark in his cheek as her flush disappeared. —_One will think you'll learn not to do that, but it looks like you don't understand how offensive that is…_

Miroku rubbed his sore cheek while Kagome kept yelling at him. "That was so worth it." he thought.

—_Wait a minute! You always do that…You always change the subject when someone asks about your hand._— she said loudly, as Miroku looked at her with fake innocent eyes.

—_What exactly is it?_ —said Kagome nervously, clearly uncertain whether or not she should ask.

—_Do you really want to know?_ — asked Miroku.

— _Yeah, sure. I mean if you want to tell me I'll listen gladly._ —Kagome sat down again.__

— _OK. This tale started centuries ago, it could be long and boring. Are you sure you want to know?_ — he said seriously.

— _Yes, I'm sure._— said Kagome, annoyance creeping up her voice.__

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**A.N.:** That's all for today. I know that it was a bit boring, but next chapter will be much better. Please R&R. I want to know if you like it. Review, please!


	3. The curse

**The Power Within**

**By Tati86**

**A.N.:** I'm having problems with the internet in my computer, it's almost impossible to send e-mails, and I can barely update. College starts on Monday, so who knows when I'll be able to update.

Thanks to everyone who review: hanyou-elf thank you for your tips, and thanks to alejandra(), I'm glad you like it.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inuyasha and co, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

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Chapter three: The curse.

—_Ok, I'll tell you. Just don't get mad._ — Miroku said nervously.

Kagome breathed deeply and relaxed herself. She had not noticed how easily she was getting angry.

—_This is a curse. It started a couple of centuries ago._

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The castle soldiers and the guardian monk got to the Goshinboku. They saw Kikyo's dead body and the "body guard" of hers that held her with his bloody claws. Both of them were soaking in blood. They assumed that Naraku's story was true...

— _Do you have any last words?_ — asked the old monk to Inuyasha, watching him closely.

—_I'm sorry Kikyo_— the monk heard the hanyou saying as the soldiers putted the cover of the coffin on.

"How dare he? He is actually crying for forgiveness, and after what he'd done. He has to be kidding!" thought the monk. "He really deserves this."

Then, he started chanting the powerful spell which ended half an hour later. After that, he placed a in the ground small stone tablet with the inscriptions that will seal Inuyasha forever. Finally the old monk got some blood from Kikyo, and he putted it on the stone tablet. The inscriptions shone and the seal was concluded.

—_What was the blood for?_ — asked one of the soldiers.

— _That was something I added to the spell. _— answered the monk with a smirk. —_I thought that time will ruined the stone tablet, so I putted some of Kikyo's miko blood to make it resistant to anything, even to time. Just a person purer and more powerful than Kikyo will be able to bake the spell, and with absolutely no intentions of doing it._

— _You're very smart._

—_That was cleaver._

— _Thank you._ — said the monk flushing slightly_._ —_ Now, we have the most difficult thing to do ahead of us._

— _What's that, houshi-sama?_ — asked a soldier with new earn admiration towards the monk.

— _We'll be the ones to give the bad news to the King and Queen._ — said sadly the monk.

All the soldiers nodded in agreement. Some of them took the task of bringing Kikyo's body to the castle.

When they arrived to the garden, someone was waiting for them, Naraku.

—_Where do you think you are going?_ — said an evil voice.

—_Who are you?_ — ask the monk placing himself in front of the soldiers that carried Kikyo's dead body.

—_It doesn't matter..., but if you have to know I'm Naraku...Now, give the shikon no tama._

— _What are you taking about?_

—_Don't fool around. You know what I'm talking about. I know that the miko has it, I can feel it. Give it to me or die. Either way I win._

—_You'll have to kill us._ We _are not giving the jewel to you._

— _As you wish_. — said Naraku smiling evilly.

— _Run as fast as you can to the spiritual shield_. — shouted the monk to the rest of the soldiers as he placed his staff on the ground, and putted some spiritual parchments (AN/ I don't know if that's the correct name.) around them.

Naraku struck out, but the parchments did their work. They stopped Naraku for a while.

—_If you think that those silly pieces of paper are going to stop **me,** you have to be the stupidest men alive._ — said Naraku coldly as he threw a blast of energy destroying the parchments.

— _I'll do everything I can to stop you._ — roared the guardian monk as he took his staff to protect himself from Naraku's attack.

The monk's attempts were successful in diverting Naraku's attention from the soldiers. They were in the shield that surrounded the castle. The monk smirked when he realized that Kikyo's body and the soldiers were save and sound.

Naraku didn't miss the smile on the old man. "A weak monk was able to deceived me, the most powerful creature on earth...I've lost a chance to obtain the shikon no tama because of my necessity of showing off. This wasn't the plan. I killed Kikyo, tricked the soldiers into sealing Inuyasha, got rid of all the obstacles in my way, and stopped following my plan... The next step was to take the jewel quick, in one swift motion, but I didn't...Now I'll have to wait for another opportunity to take it...I'll make that dumb monk pay for destroying my perfect plan." He thought angrily.

Faster than the eye could follow, Naraku unleash the roots beneath him, and attacked the monk. The elderly monk's legs were broken because of the attack. Then, Naraku's hand wrapped around his throat lifting him from the ground.

One root went through the monk's hand as pain went through his all body. He couldn't breathe because of the pressure on his throat, and the edges of his vision were turning black. Some seconds later, he fainted, and Naraku disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

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—_That's how my ancestor got the curse on his hand. It has pass from father to son since then. It's like a black hole that swallows everything on his path, it gets bigger with time, and someday it'll consume me._ — said Miroku sadly.

—_Is that what happened to your father?_ _He was consumed by it_. — asked Kagome quietly.

— _Yes._ — answered Miroku curtly looking at the ground. — _The night I turn twelve, my father came to me, told me that he loved me, hugged me, and ran away from our house...He had never done such a thing, so I knew something was wrong. I tried to follow him...My godfather stopped me before I reached my dad...I... saw...I saw the vortex consuming him. I...I yelled at him not to leave me, but he couldn't stop it. He...he died in front of my eyes._ — said Miroku grimly looking at his hand, as Kagome stroke his shoulder.

— _I'm sorry._ — Kagome whispered.

—_Don't worry. It was a long time ago._ — he said with a fake smile. —_I'm feeling kind of tired. If you excuse me, I'm going to sleep._

— Sure. — she said standing up, as Miroku did the same bowing his head. —_Houshi-sama, forgive me I shouldn't had asked, it's a painful memory._

—_You really are an amazing woman, so beautiful, and so caring. I'm absolutely delighted by you._ —he told Kagome as he placed his hand on Kagome's posterior to grope her again.

SLAP!

Seconds later, Miroku got into the castle with a red mark on each cheek leaving a very angry Kagome behind.

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Singing birds.

"Those damn birds again. Leave me alone. I want to sleep. Sleep? I was sleeping... Yes¡, it wasn't a dream. Someone broke the seal." Inuyasha thought as he tried to open his eyes. It kept being too bright for him and his senses were numbed.

He finally managed to open his eyes, but — where am I? —he said quietly. He was lying on a futon in an old house.

—_I'm glad you are fully awake. You surely have an impressive healing power...This is my home, you had being unconscious for a day_. —said an old woman dressed in miko clothes.

—_Who ask you, old hag?_ — the hanyou said gruffly, sitting down.

—Y_ou asked. I thought that you were talking to me...You shouldn't so disrespectful._

—_Who do you think you are?_

—_I'm the one who brought you here after you fainted, and took care of your wounds... By the way my name is Kaede, and I like to de called by my name._

—_Feh._ — said Inuyasha, crossing his arms in front of his chest, and looking away. —_Whatever, **old hag.**_

Silent fell in the room, so Inuyasha looked at the old woman in front of him. He noticed her clothes. Inuyasha broke the silence asking —_Are you a miko?_

––_Yes, I am._–– she answered curtly.

—_Why did you help me? I'm a hanyou, and I killed Kikyo, a miko princess._ —he said annoyed.

—_I know you didn't. I've researched enough to know that Naraku killed her. Besides, nobody talks about it anymore._

—_How the fuck did you free me? I thought that it couldn't be done. _

—_I didn't do it. It was technically impossible. The monk added to the spell Kikyo's blood. It was supposed that no one could free you, unless..._

—_What?_ — Inuyasha asked curiously.

— _Unless there's a miko stronger than Kikyo around here._

—_Impossible._ — grunted the hanyou.

— _It's that or Kikyo freed you, and she died two hundred years ago._

—_Two hundred years ago._ — Inuyasha repeated blankly.

—_You didn't know that. You were seal two hundred years ago. The same day Kikyo's body was burned along with the shikon no tama._

— _Naraku didn't get the jewel._

—_No._

—_Where is the shikon no tama?_ — asked Inuyasha. He preferred to keep talking; he had spent enough time thinking on that horrible day.

— _People say that the royal family is protecting it. The castle has a strong spiritual shield around it. It doesn't let enemies get in._

—_I already know about the shield, it was there before I was sealed..., so it's in the castle._

—_Although I can't feel its presence, I know it's around here._

— _How come you can't feel its presence?_

— _I don't know._ — the old miko said preparing lunch in the fire place. —_It might have a spell on it...Why are you so interested in the jewel?_

— _I need it to become a full youkai, and keep my promises to Kikyo._ — Inuyasha said without noticing that he was speaking aloud.

—_What are you planning to do?_ — Kaede asked raising his eyebrows, and turning around to look at the hanyou. However, Inuyasha wasn't there anymore.

She sighed and poured some of the soup she was preparing in the bowl. "Maybe, it wasn't such a good idea to give him that information. I should keep an eye on him."

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A blur of red and silver was jumping from tree to tree with one thought echoing in his mind. "The shikon no tama is in the castle."

Inuyasha stopped on a tree that was where the garden of the castle begun. There was a pair of kids far from him, but not far enough from his hearing perception. "They could say something valuable."

— ..._, so mom gave you Sundays off._ — said the little boy.

— _Yeah, isn't it great? She said that I've been working too much, and I needed free time._ — the young girl said excited. — _But I have to raise my math grades._ — she added sadly.

—_That's better than nothing._

Then, a man approached them, a soldier. —_Princess, prince I came to remind you not to go into the forest by yourself. There could be dangerous youkai._

—_Yes_—they said at the same time.

The soldier bowed, and retired to the castle.

"They are the princess and prince, interesting. Maybe I can't get near the jewel, but could make it come to me." Inuyasha thought smirking.

—_Kagome, you are going to the forest, right?_ — the boy asked, and she nodded.

— _Sister, you shouldn't go. You heard what the soldier said._

—_Yes, I know. I want to verify something Miroku told me yesterday._

—_What?_

—_He_ _said something about someone that was sealed next to a tree._

—_Whatever. I'm not covering for you. If someone asks I'll tell where you are._

—_I don't care, Souta. I'm going anyway_—said Kagome turning around and getting into the forest.

"The little brat is easier to carry, but he is too close to the soldiers. I don't want to draw any attention to myself. No one knows I'm free, yet... The bitch will do. She is going to the forest alone. It'll be a piece of cake."

He trailed after the girl. "Kikyo's hair was longer than this bitch's hair, and it was straighter. Kikyo was taller and her skin was paler... What am I doing? Why am I thinking about Kikyo? I'm comparing them!" He shook his head to make the thoughts banish. A familiar scent went through his nose. "Kikyo!" he shouted mentally. "No, she is not Kikyo." The scents were similar, but not the same. "Why does she smell so much like Kikyo? No, it has to be me. All those years sealed affect me somehow."

He had stopped following her without noticing it. He couldn't see her anymore, but he could still trace her. "I have to stop thinking about Kikyo. I have a job to do." He started running faster to catch his prey. "This is going to be fun." He thought with a predator look in his face.

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**A.N.:** That's all for today. It was longer than the other chapters to make you want to keep reading no matter how long I take to update the next one. If someone knows how the spiritual parchments are called, please tell me. Review, please!


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